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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · row · lash · object · deal · game · tube · kid

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. tube — the underground
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. object — an aim
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. content — the amount
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. kid — to tease
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. kid — child
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. row — a line
  20. object — a thing
  21. game — a match
  22. object — to protest
  23. row — to paddle
  24. tube — a container

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com